


You Don't Have To Lose Everything

by messedupstargazer



Series: Saints and Sinners [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Barry Allen Isn't The Flash, Barry Allen is one of The Rogues, Bisexual Barry Allen, Don't copy to another site, Gay Leonard Snart, Getting Together, Hurt Barry Allen, Leonard Snart Has a Heart, Leonard Snart Owns Saints and Sinners, Leonard Snart is Bad at Feelings, Leonard Snart to the Rescue, M/M, Panic Attacks, Protective Leonard Snart, Protective Rogues (DCU)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21613573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/messedupstargazer/pseuds/messedupstargazer
Summary: (Please read the first three to understand this one.)He’d moved Barry into his guest room the next day.  He wasn’t going to let Barry stay in that house another minute, not when he wasn’t one hundred percent sure of Barry’s safety.  Barry didn’t have anything except the clothes on his back, so Len closed the bar for the day and took Barry shopping.  Barry weakly tried to protest, but Len put his foot down. It wasn’t much, just the bare essentials, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, a comfy blanket Barry adored (but wouldn’t say he wanted so Len bought it anyway), and then they went to the bank to get Joe off of Barry’s accounts.  He needed to make sure Joe couldn’t get to Barry in any way.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart
Series: Saints and Sinners [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548526
Comments: 13
Kudos: 383





	You Don't Have To Lose Everything

He’d moved Barry into his guest room the next day. He wasn’t going to let Barry stay in that house another minute, not when he wasn’t one hundred percent sure of Barry’s safety. Barry didn’t have anything except the clothes on his back, so Len closed the bar for the day and took Barry shopping. Barry weakly tried to protest, but Len put his foot down. It wasn’t much, just the bare essentials, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, a comfy blanket Barry adored (but wouldn’t say he wanted so Len bought it anyway), and then they went to the bank to get Joe off of Barry’s accounts. He needed to make sure Joe couldn’t get to Barry in any way.

Once they returned to Saints and Sinners, Len sent Barry up the stairs while he and the other Rogues opened the bar up.

“I can help.”

“You need to sleep.” Len insisted. “We got it down here, that’s not a problem. You barely slept at all last night, I see the bags under your eyes. Get some rest.”

“I always have bags under my eyes.” Barry mumbled half-heartedly.

“I know you, Barry Allen.” Len said, resisting the urge to cup the kids cheek. “They’re more pronounced than usual. Go to sleep. Don’t make me sing you a lullaby.”

Barry laughed quietly. “I’m sure I’d hate that.”

“I’ll have you know, I have a fabulous voice.” Len replied.

“Oh is that why we never have karaoke nights?” Barry said.

“No one would come.” Len quipped back. “Nobody likes being told they’re a bad singer.”

Barry laughed, his exhaustion clearly shining through. “Okay, you win. But wake me if you need me, okay?”

“I will.” Len lied, fingers absentmindedly crossed behind his back. He usually didn’t like lying, but he didn’t want to deny the kid sleep.

“See you guys in a few hours.” Barry said, heading up the stairs. They waited until the heard the door close.

“So we're going after those bastards right?” Axel said, leaning against the bar.

“Not now.” Len said solidly. “It’s too soon. We’ll get caught. No, we need to bide our time for that one. What was that stupid movie Mark lost his mind over? The slow knife or whatever it was? No, we let them think they got away with it. Then we hit them and hit them hard.”

“So what do we do now?” Sam asked, arms crossed, his thumb running over the pocket mirror he kept as a sensory stim. “The kid’s a wreck. We have to do something.”

“We will.” Len assuaged. “Right now, we get what he needs. We gotta go get his stuff. He told me he didn’t want to go get it today when I offered, said he couldn’t risk seeing his ex-family again.”

“I get that.” Hartley admitted, his voice full to the brim with bitterness. He sat slumped in a chair, his face twisted in memory of the people who had abandoned him. “Those people are supposed to love you, not let anyone hurt you. Not hurt you themselves.”

Mick slapped Hartley’s back a couple times. Thankfully, Hartley had learned to speak Mick and understood that was Mick’s way of comforting the younger man, responding with a light tap to Mick’s hand.

“So what’s the plan, Boss?” Mick asked. “I know you got one.”

“It’s simple. We break into a cops house and steal Barry’s stuff back.”

He’d spoken casually, with an air of disinterest, trying to hide his own insecurities. Many of them had records, Hell, his and Mick’s were as long as their arms, and breaking into a cops house, even for the right reasons, would get the book thrown at you, and you’d have an example made out of you. Axel had lost his arm from a brutal police dog bite left untreated, Sam had his head cracked against a mirror when he was arrested which left permanent damage, Hartley had lost much of his hearing from a flash bang fired into a crowd, and he knew if Mick got one more conviction, even if it wasn’t for arson, they’d lock him up and throw away the key. Len would gladly take the risk for Barry, the poor kid needed _someone_ to care about him, but he wasn’t sure if his family would.

“So!” Mick said. “When are we leaving?”

Hartley, Sam, and Axel nodded.

Len huffed, trying to portray an air of distance, but a secret part of his heart overflowing that his family had accepted the former CSI into their little group. So he jingled the keys he’d lifted off of Barry earlier this morning. “Right now.”

Len took his bike, offering to scout ahead to make sure the cop wasn’t at home. The other four would be behind him in Len’s nondescript van, the one he used to use on jobs and now used for deliveries. On the ride over, he steeled his nerves. He was good, before he used the money from his last job to set him up at Saints and Sinners. The only reason he’d been caught often was because of his father, Lewis was a terrible cop and an even worse criminal, or because he put his faith in the wrong people. He trusted his Rogues. They could do this.

He easily found West’s house, as Barry had listed it as his housing on his employment form, and parked inches away from a car. From several angles, his bike would be completely hidden, and from others, his license plate would be unreadable. He glanced at the house, and saw no lights on. That was a good sign. He casually walked up to the house, uncaring of who saw him. Usually the only time you were caught sneaking into a house was often because you looked like you didn’t belong there. Len had walked into several banks, and cased all he liked because he had a fake nametag and people bent over backwards to help him since they thought he worked there. He knocked once.

No answer. Another good sign.

He knocked again, loudly.

Still no answer.

“Hey guys, anyone for home?” Len called out, giving himself a Cajun accent. He’d spent some time in Louisiana, so it hadn’t been hard.

Nothing.

He then slipped Barry’s keys into the lock and opened the door. He closed the screen, leaving the door wide open, his signal to the Rogues no one was home. He quickly searched the house, and found the signs Barry had once described as a ‘bad call’, when Joe had to race to a crime scene and leave everything behind. The food on the table was still fresh, if half-eaten, but that didn’t guarantee them time.

Two knocks. Pause. Two knocks.

“Come in.” Len called out.

“We got luggage for the kid’s stuff.” Sam showed him some thrift store duffel bags and a couple suitcases. “Figured it made us look more believable and the kid could probably use it.”

“Good thinking.” Len praised, and while he knew Sam would always deny it, he did also see the man’s chest puff up at the compliment. “Kid’s room is upstairs. Let’s go.”

“So who else lives here?” Sam asked as they each put on their gloves. While apparently just as attached to Barry as everyone else, due to his job as a bouncer, he hardly ever saw the kid on his work nights. Though Len knew that sometimes, on slow nights, Barry would just step outside so Sam wouldn’t be so lonely. In the past, he had sometimes wondered if he’d paid Barry just to put a little sunshine in their lives. Though, with Barry’s type of sunshine, he would gladly pay any amount of money.

“West, Barry, and his biological son, don’t know his name.” Len answered. “The kid’s at school, not often at the house. West is the only one we really have to worry about. This is Barry’s room.”

Len opened the door to reveal a room plastered with posters, covered in dirty laundry, and a bed that had superhero sheets.

“We sure?” Hartley asked. “This looks like the bedroom of a high schooler.”

“Yep.” Len said, pointing at one of the posters. “Barry told me how excited he was when Iris got him that periodic table poster. Signed by Harrison Wells himself. He worked the night the Particle Accelerator turned on, ironically, the same night he got struck by lightning. So to cheer him up, Iris had forced her way into Wells’ office and got him to sign the poster. This is Barry’s.”

“So what are we taking?” Mick asked, getting down to business.

“Clothes, posters, electronics, books, valuables from _only_ this room, government papers, and anything that you think Barry needs. Leave most of the other stuff, we don’t want West knowing we broke in.”

His Rogues nodded and immediately started on their mission. Hartley went to the closet, starting to pull clothes, Mick started untacking the posters, Sam grabbed Barry’s laptop and charger, and Axel started to grab the clothes off the floor. Len lifted his mattress, and found the secret compartment Barry had once told him about, finding Barry’s passport, social security card, birth certificate, adoption certificate, a couple old photo albums, and a death certificate. Len frowned, and found the name _Nora Allen_ written on it. There was only one, and since he knew Barry’s father wasn’t in his life, he suddenly became pretty sure how Barry had lost his mother.

With the five of them, they made quick work of packing up Barry’s stuff, separating the dirty clothes from the clean, packing every charger, every knick-knack, everything they could think of. They didn’t care who had bought originally it, it was in Barry’s room and was therefore his. Len also made sure to grab Barry’s college textbooks, the one the kid had kept anyway, as he knew Barry’s heart still belonged to science, even if he couldn’t be a CSI for the police.

“What about this?” Mick asked, breaking Len’s concentration. Len turned to find a picture of Joe and Barry together in Mick’s hand, under Mick’s lighter.

“No.” Len said solidly. “You can’t set his stuff on fire!”

“It’s not his!” Mick explained. “I got this from downstairs!”

Len glared at his best friend. Leave it to Mick to find some way to put arson into helping a friend. Mick glared right back.

“What if I set it on fire and leave it somewhere the asshole will find it?” Mick offered. “Like the kid is burning the bridge! Literally.”

Len extended his hand. Mick slumped, put out.

“You’re no fun.” Mick grumbled, handing back the picture.

Once Len got back from putting the picture back, all the duffel bags had been packed and the suitcases zipped, so they made their way down the stairs and threw the bags in the van. Len checked his phone. No messages.

“Kid still hasn’t woken up.” He said. “Why don’t y’all grab some food? My treat.”

He handed his debit card to Mick, who knew the pin.

Sam, Hartley, and Axel thanked him. Mick frowned, but not at them.

“You think it’ll rain?” Mick asked aloud.

The question caught Len by surprise. “I… I don’t know. I didn’t check the weather report. Why?”

“Because in the two hours it took us to do this, those rain clouds have gotten darker and moved pretty quickly over the city.” Mick said, gesturing. “Wasn’t the kid struck by lightning?”

_“You know I did some research on lightning strikes.” Len said, cleaning the bar on a slow night. He’d already sent Mark home, as the man had just had a baby with his wife, Shawna. Really, he could’ve done this alone, but he kept Barry around because when he offered to let the kid go home early, Barry had looked like he’d kicked his puppy, and he knew the kid needed hours so he figured a couple extra hours with the kid wouldn’t hurt._

_“Oh? Why?” Barry asked, sweeping up the booths and tables._

_“Because I thought it might help you.” Len answered easily. “Didn’t want to trigger you unnecessarily. That’s a dick move if I ever heard one.”_

_Barry stopped sweeping, looking at Len like he’d hung the moon. “You did it… to help me? No one’s ever done that before.”_

_“Told ya kid, you need better friends.” Len said lightly. “So what does trigger you, if it’s alright to ask? The academics were rather unhelpful, debating much of the symptoms, said it was different for each case.”_

_“I mean, there’s really not much else you don’t already know.” Barry said, resuming his sweeping. Then he stopped again. “Well, I hate storms. A lot. Even just simple showers. I’m always nervous when I see dark clouds coming in. I once had a panic attack because Iris was staying the night and she plays one of those white noise rainstorm things. Couldn’t sleep a wink that night.”_

“I’ve got to get back to him.” Len said, his blood running cold.

“Boss?”

“No time, I’ve got to go.” Len said. “All of you, in the van. I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point in a couple hours.”

Len threw his leg over his bike. Mick’s hand caught his arm. They’d known each other too long to have this conversation aloud.

Mick nodded, letting him go.

“Stay low, drive slowly, and watch each other’s backs.”

He put his helmet on, revved up his bike, and sped off. As he tore through the city, weaving in and out of traffic like any good motorcyclist could, trying to keep his heart from bursting out of his chest, he scolded himself. He’d gotten far too attached to Barry too quickly, and now he was paying for it. He never should’ve taken the damn kid in, should’ve just called him a cab, and sent him to a friend’s house, never seeing him again. He could’ve gotten the kid out of his head, he’d gotten so many others out of his head, Barry would’ve just been another attraction he’d never acted on. Besides, it was almost indecent of him, Barry was over ten years younger than he was. And now he was breaking nearly every speeding law to get back to the kid, cursing himself for leaving him alone, for not checking the weather. He was way too far gone on the kid. He always had the worst luck when it came to falling in love with men he had no chance with, and it seemed Barry was no exception.

Just as he arrived at Saints and Sinners in record time, nearly tipping his own bike over in his haste, the full force of the storm arrived. He threw his helmet towards the couch as he bounded up the stairs.

“Barry!” He called out, nearly crashing through the door. He knocked.

He heard crying inside, and knocked again.

“Barry, I’m right here, let me in.”

No response. He pressed his ear against the door, and heard hyperventilating. Len cursed. Barry was too far gone in the panic attack to hear him.

“I’m coming in.” Len said, and went for the doorknob, only to find it locked.

He groaned, and raced to the kitchen, grabbing the first spoon he saw. He ran back, jabbed the spoon into the lock, and turned it, unlatching the lock.

He opened the door to find droplets of water across Barry’s window and across Barry’s cheeks, Barry’s hand scratching at his own throat, curled into a ball, the bandaged one shoved against his chest where Len knew the lichtenberg figure lay.

Len immediately crawled into bed beside Barry, pulling the kid into his arms.

“Sh-h-h, it’s okay, you’re safe.” Len whispered into his ear. “I’ve got you. The rain can’t hurt you, I won’t let it.”

“I’m scared.” Barry sobbed, recognizing Len. Barry dug his fingers into Len’s hands, eliciting a wince but he hardly noticed.

“I know, sh-h-h, it’s alright, I won’t let anything hurt you.” Len started to rock back and forth, knowing that helped calm Barry down.

“I’m going to try something with you, okay?” Len asked. “I read about it in my research on lightning strikes. You wanna try?”

Barry choked on his own tears, but nodded. “Make it stop.”

“I need your help on this, okay?” Len started, using the gentlest voice in his arsenal. “I want you to focus entirely on your toes.”

Barry looked at him, bewildered.

“Just try. Focus all of your energy on relaxing them.” Len pulled the book he’d borrowed from the library up in his head. “That’s all you need to do. Just listen to my voice and relax your toes.”

Barry squeezed his eyes shut, and after a moment, Len saw restless socked feet start to calm down.

“That’s good, Scarlet, you’re doing good. Now go ahead and do your feet, up to your ankles.”

Barry’s breath started to slow, and his feet started to droop.

“Thatta boy, Scarlet, you’re doing great, just great, now keep going. Do your legs up til your knees. Come on, deep breaths, and relax your shins.”

The death grip Barry had on Len’s left hand loosened.

“Good job, Barry, good job. Now come on, relax your thighs. You can do it. I know you can.”

Barry’s sobs had reduced to shuddering breaths, and Barry went limp in his arms.

“Barry?” Len asked, afraid the kid had just passed out.

“I hate rain.” Barry whispered, his voice broken and bitter. “Why couldn’t we live in California? It never rains there.”

“Sh-h-h, it’s alright.” Len wrapped his arms carefully, to avoid any strain on Barry’s bruised ribs. “You’re safe, I won’t let anything hurt you.”

“I know you won’t.” Barry sighed, seeming to come back to himself a bit more.

“You back with me?”

“For the most part.” Barry leaned into the nape of Len’s neck. “It won’t get better, you know. It’ll stay for the whole storm. Every drop and I’m back in that room, trying to close the skylight.”

“It’s okay.” Len said, resisting the urge to drop a kiss into his hair. “I’ve got nowhere to be. I can stay the night.”

“But… the bar?” Barry asked, straining to pull himself out of Len’s arms. “What about people who are coming for the game tonight?”

“The health and safety of my employees comes before any game.” Len replied. “I’ll just have Mick put out a sign that says ‘Medical emergency- closed’ or something like that.”

“Don’t, Lenny.” Barry said, and Len had to stop his heart from leaving his chest. “Tonight’s good money, I can’t deny you that.”

“Eh, it’s a basketball game.” Len shrugged. “Central hasn’t had a good basketball team since before I was born so we’re not losing too much.”

“Please.” Barry begged, his doe eyes wide and imploring. “Don’t close, not for me.”

“I’ll just call Mark.” Len said, pulling out his phone. “He said he might be able to pick up a few extra shifts, and he actually _likes_ basketball.”

That seemed to brighten Barry’s spirit so he went through with the call. Once he got Mark to cover his shift for the night, Barry seemed to finally relax.

“There. I’ve got the night off now. Now I truly have nowhere to go.” Len smiled.

“Lenny, I can’t believe you… I mean, for me, I…”

“We got food!” Mick’s voice shouted from the stairs. “For both of you.”

Len huffed. “Always lets you know where he is.”

“Yeah. I guess I am a little hungry.” Barry admitted, which Len translated to the equivalent to Barry being starving.

“You okay with them coming in?” Len asked. “I won’t let them in unless you say so.”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Barry nodded.

“You sure?” Len insisted. “You don’t have to pretend with me, you locked the door before.”

“I did?” Barry frowned. “If I did, I don’t remember why. ”

“Okay. Come on in, we’re in Scarlet’s room.”

Mick then came in, with steaming Chinese take-out, duffel bags across his broad shoulders.

“Hey, kid.” Mick said. “Hartley is getting plates and utensils and stuff. Do you think you can handle chopsticks? We got you a pair just in case.”

“I need a fork.” Barry sighed, laughing at himself a bit. “Never been able to use chopsticks. Never had the patience to use ‘em. Always took too long.”

Axel came in next, dragging the suitcases behind him. Hartley and Sam followed behind, bringing up the rest of the duffel bags.

“What- What is this?” Barry asked, wiping at his face.

“Your stuff.” Axel chirped happily.

Barry frowned in confusion.

Mick set the duffel bag down and opened it. Barry looked inside. He wasn’t sure if it was by design or not, but somehow Mick ended up with the bag with Barry’s documents and old photos. Barry opened the first album and gasped. Len snuck a glance at the pictures, it was a woman who looked very much like Barry with a tiny version of Barry. Ah, his mother.

Barry wiped at fresh tears, though no panic attack had caused these. “Wha- why- How?”

“We got your stuff back.” Hartley said simply. “That way you don’t have to lose everything with losing that asshole.”

This wave of tears, Len had expected as soon as they had all decided to go after Barry’s stuff.

“You broke into Joe’s house for me?” Barry cried, smiling as wide as his face would let him. “He could catch you!”

“He won’t. We really are that good. Oh, that reminds me.” Len dug in his pocket for Barry’s keys. “These are yours.”

Barry snorted with laughter. “Thief.”

“Don’t leave them in easy to steal places!” Len laughed. “Like in your back pocket.”

Barry glared, but through the tears and laughter he had no chance of it being effective.

“I can’t believe you all did this.” Barry said, going back to the luggage.

“You’re one of the Rogues now, kid.” Mick said gruffly, though Len could easily see his heart bleeding all over the words. “We take care of our own.”

Barry’s eyes once again filled with fresh tears.

“Come on, kid, let’s eat before it gets cold.” Mick said, returning to his normal demeanor.

Barry nodded, and the food was passed around.

It was one of the greatest meals Len had ever had in his life. The Rogues kept him in stitches, each keeping each other on their toes with one great, and probably exaggerated, story after another, obviously keeping Barry from noticing the storm behind them. It reminded him of the Thanksgiving dinners he had been promised through media and never got himself. Once the food had been eaten, and they had long settled down, he sent Sam, Hartley and Mick to their shifts, and sent Axel home. Mick called up soon after that Mark had arrived, assuaging Barry even further.

“I still can’t believe you got all this.” Barry said. “Like how did you even find all this stuff?”

“You talk too much, Scarlet.” Len smiled, still full on dopamine and food. “You told me about the secret compartment in your bed.”

“I did?” Barry frowned. “I don’t- hey, yes I did. You cheated though. I basically forgot, you should’ve.”

“I most certainly did not cheat.” Len insisted. “Now, why don’t we finish moving you in? I want to check to make sure you’ve got what you need.”

Barry nodded, and Len slipped his phone out, playing his music to try and drown out the noise from the storm. They worked together in peaceful quiet, Len mostly following Barry’s directions. Together, they hung Barry’s clean clothes in the closet, put the dirty ones in the hamper, hung up posters, put the books on the bookshelves, found an outlet for all of Barry’s chargers, and put his personal documents into a small safe that Len let Barry change the password to.

“We didn’t miss anything, did we?” Len asked, as they were finishing up. “I wasn’t sure if anything else in the house was yours, but I didn’t want West to think someone had broken in to steal your particular stuff and like a few of his things.”

“No, it’s pretty much all here.” Barry said. “Only thing that’s really missing is my pictures that Joe took, and honestly, I’m sure I can ask Iris for the ones I want.”

“You think she’ll get them for you?” Len asked.

“Oh yeah.” Barry nodded. “She’s not perfect, but she really tries to be as open and supportive as I could ask for.”

Len nodded. “I’m glad you’re still friends.”

“I hope we are.” Barry said, setting down the last duffel bag. “I haven’t reached out to her since… since. I turned my phone off, I didn’t want to deal with anything.”

So that was why he hadn’t gotten a wake up text from Barry.

Len crosses the room to Barry, grabbing him gently by the shoulders.

“Hey, listen to me. No matter what happens, you’ve got us. We’ll always have your back.”

Barry chuckled half-heartedly. “I know. You just broke into a detective's house for me, even with your rap sheets. I still can’t believe it. I don’t know how I could ever thank you for that by the way.”

“Like Mick said, we take care of our- oomph.”

Barry’s lips captured his own. Len took a moment in shock, relishing the feeling of Barry’s lips against his own, before he forced himself to pull back.

“No, kid, don’t, you can’t.”

“Yes, I can.” Barry said, leaning back in.

“No, you can’t.” Len took a step back. “Scar- you’re just a kid. You’re attaching yourself to the first person who’s shown you kindness, and that never ends well. You've gone through a lot these past couple days, I’m not adding to that.”

“You’re not adding to anything.” Barry reached out with his good hand, cupping Len’s cheek. “I _want_ to do this.”

“For the wrong reasons.” Len said, shoving down the flood of emotions rushing through his system. “I’ll accept a verbal, written, or monetary thank you, but nothing else, certainly not a sexual one.”

“I’m not doing this to thank you!” Barry shouted, his blackened eye just as impassioned as his good one. “I’m doing this because… weren't you flirting with me?”

Len stopped, his mind going too fast to respond.

“I thought you were.” Barry sighed, his heart as broken as his face. “Isn’t that… you said I was special, you’ve been flirting with me? I thought I was giving as good as I got.”

“You’ve been flirting with me?” Len said, his mouth going faster than his brain.

“Have been since I met you, thanks for noticing.” Barry have a watery chuckle.

“I never thought…”

“Thought what?” Barry asked.

“It could be returned.” Len admitted. “You’re a ray of sunshine, everyone’s happier when you’re around. You can make Axel snort when he laughs, you visit Sam so he’s not so lonely outside, you help Hartley with his hearing aids, hell, you can even make Mick adopt you! That’s what he’s done by the way, you may leave this job, but you’ll never shake him. I should know, I’ve tried. I just thought… I thought that’s how you were with everyone.”

Barry shook his head, laughing lightly. “No, it’s just you. It’s always been you. You’ve saved me, in so many ways, ways I can’t begin to thank you for. But… I want to spend the rest of my life trying to. And I think you want to too.”

“Kid-”

“I’m twenty-six, I’m not a kid.” Barry snapped. “Hell, I’m older than Axel! Look, I haven’t dated many men before but I’ve been hoping you’d ask me out for a while now. Why do you think I always volunteered for those extra shifts with you?”

“I just thought you needed the hours!” Len shouted right back.

They both dissolved into laughter, laughing at themselves, at each other, at the world. Barry then grabbed Len’s hand and squeezed.

“Look, I know what it sounds like, but it’s not. I want to date you, have wanted to for a while. You didn’t run from me, from my fear, from my lightning strike. You see me, who I am, not who you want me to be.” Barry said, his voice then taking on a lighter tone. “And if I’m getting kicked out for liking guys, I’m spiting him so hard. Super hot bad boy ex-con with a heart of gold. Joe would hate it.”

Len laughed. “You’re an asshole, you know I can’t resist spite.”

“Well, if you’re not gonna do it, I guess I have to.” Barry shrugged. “Well? Do you want to go out with me?”

“When did you become this confident?” Len replied.

“You have been telling me for months that I’m worthy of love, that I deserve someone who’s willing to put in the effort.” Barry said. “Not just you, but the other Rogues too. You’ve put in the effort, more times than anyone else in my life. I might be a dumbass bisexual but I’m not blind. I want to go out with you. Will you go out with me?

“You know Scarlet?” Len pretended to think for a moment. “I think I will.”

This time, they met each other halfway. Fireworks went off behind Len’s eyes, this was greater than all of his fantasies. Barry’s lips, though still split, were a perfect fit against his own, Len threaded his fingers though Barry’s hair, Barry’s hand and cast wrapping around Len’s neck. Barry tried to deepen the kiss, pushing Len until his legs hit the bed, sending them both tumbling down.

Barry’s laugh was the most beautifully infectious sound he’d ever heard, he decided. Soon after, he was laughing too.

“Take it easy, Scarlet.” Len chuckled. “You’ve still got bruised ribs.”

“Ribs, schmibs, get back over here and kiss me.”

Len laughed outright at that.

“Yes, sir!” He said, in a ridiculous Army voice.

Barry screeched with laughter as Len peppered kisses across Barry’s skin.

**Author's Note:**

> So I think I've got one more in me in this universe. I'll keep y'all updated.
> 
> Like it? Hate it? Let me know what you think! Your comments and kudos give me life! I adore each and every one!
> 
> I would also like to make a personal shout-out to Hannah. Your essay, the comment yesterday, was the best thing I could've ever asked for. Don't ever apologize for leaving a longer comment! I almost cried just when I saw the length! And your words... there is nothing I can say that could properly convey my gratitude. You're amazing, I adore you, and I wish you all the happiness in the world. Also, your amazing comment inspired this. You're the reason this happened so quickly. Please know that. I was enjoying a nice Thanksgiving with my roommate's family (best one I've had in years!) and I got your comment and I just couldn't stop writing! After charades (which is harder than it looks!) Every time I got a little stuck, I read your comment and I just magically found the words! This one belongs to you.


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